Blackbird
by Janessa Wolf - Soul
Summary: Doflamingo calls in a mercenary to not only guard the Mera-Mera no mi, but also stop Luffy from ever getting it at the coliseum. What will happen once they meet face to face? **WARNING: Yaoi, mpreg, and mature themes** Uke!Luffy/Seme'Royal Guard' Ciel-based MaleOC (Elsword)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okey dokey, I'm pretty that the 565 people who have been reading _Bloodless Snow_ are going to pissed at me for saying this, but I got to let it go. I got to delete it completely. Mainly because I haven't updated it in so long, and I just have no inspiration to write a Luffy/OC story that involves the OC being a girl. Because, in all of the _One Piece_ episodes that I have see so far from the very first story arc of the series up to the Fishman Island Arc, Luffy has never, and I do mean _never_ displayed any interaction with girls the same way that the others have done. Luffy has always either displayed asexual behavior or displayed more attention to male characters in a way that seemed that he was gay rather than straight. **

**With that in mind, I'm going to write another Luffy/OC, this one, that involves Luffy being in a romantic relationship with a male OC. Also, this will also be an mpreg with Luffy being the uke, or the guy who will carry and give birth to their children. Now, I know this is going to upset and piss off a lot of people since I'm saying this, but honestly, I can _NOT_ in any way view Luffy paired up with a girl unless it's a girl similar in personality to either Zoro or Robin. Even I did write something like that, it won't last very long before I scrap that one too. **

**This OC will be modeled almost entirely after the _Elsword_ character Ciel in his 'Royal Guard' job class because honestly he looks cool and I prefer that look on him than his 'Dreadlord' and 'Demonio' job classes. I will make Ciel Robin's younger brother, Merlen (pronounced the same way as Merlin), but he will still be 26 and keep his powers, looks (his clothes are slightly modified to be simpler in appearance), and skill set in this story. If you want to see how he looks overall, look up 'elsword luciel royal guard' in Google and it should pop up. Or, whenever, I finish it, go to my profile to look at the drawing that I did of him. **

**I deeply apologize to the 565 people who have read _Bloodless Snow_ as well as the _extremely_ long Author's Note, but I felt like that I needed to clarify this before any of you PM me asking where the hell did _Bloodless Snow_ went and if it's still available to read.**

 **Anyways, hope you all enjoy reading the introduction to _Blackbird_! :D**

* * *

 ** _Introduction_**

It was quite a tragedy seeing the _Mera-Mera no mi_ get into the hands of Donquixote Doflamingo almost two years after 'Fire Fist' Ace's death. Who knows just what the man had in mind for this fruit?

"Is he here?"

The man's slippery yet deceivably sugary sweet voice reached the ears of his most trusted crew members. They all exchanged glances with each other and looked on curiously at the small blush on Dellinger's face causing some eyebrows to raise at it.

"Yes, sir captain. He's just waiting on you to call him in."

"Mm, I see. Tell me, why exactly are you blushing Dellinger?"

"O-oh it's nothing sir. J-just that he's … very handsome. Yea, that's it."

"Ho oh! Little Delly's got a crush! Is he that handsome?"

If at all possible, the young half-fishman blushed even more than he was already confirming, and answering, Jora's question. They laughed at the expense of the young boy, Jora and Doflamingo the hardest of the bunch, while he scowled at them.

"You won't be laughing so much once you see him for yourself!"

"Well, alright then. Send him in."

Some of the lackey's who looked on in both confusion and amusement opened the door to reveal the silhouette of a tall, lean and slender man with what looked like a large cross-shaped firearm on his back while two rifles were strapped to his hips. Once he walked into the light with clicks of his boots, the entire Donquixote family ensemble either had blushes, raised eyebrows or wide eyes conveying their shock, surprise and racing heartbeats.

This 6' 2" tall man was very, _very_ handsome. Pale ivory skin that glowed in the light, blue hair that was royal blue towards the tips and faded into a midnight blue towards the roots framing his face with it parted to the left side of his face, broad shoulders that tapered to a muscular upper body, trim waist and _very_ slightly curved hips followed by long lean legs. His facial features, however, was what caught the attention of most of the people in the room: strong, full yet angular features, prominent cheekbones, an upturned nose, small yet thin lips, long pointed ears, and his eyes. Sharp and seductive colored in royal blue that faded into a light sky blue with a four-point star shaped pupil rimmed with long, thick midnight lashes. He was a sight to see.

"Fuffuffu, are you Blackbird?"

"And you must be Doflamingo. What business do you have with me?"

His voice was a _deep_ baritone full of maturity and cool mannerisms that sent shivers up and down everyone's spine for various reasons known to them. Doflamingo chuckled at the forwardness of the mercenary/hitman. His smile got wider than it already was as he gazed at the shorter, but still very tall, man in front of him.

"Well, you see Blackbird, I have recently acquired the infamous _Mera-Mera no mi_ and I would like to know if you would provide some assistance in guarding it for me."

"… You called me here to guard a devil fruit? Sorry, but uh, I only guard high-standing individuals like nobles and royalty. Not devil fruits. Find yourself another bodyguard willing to do something as easy as that."

Doflamingo couldn't help with how his usually wide smile faltered or how many times his eyes blinked owlishly behind his winged sunglasses. _"The nerve and gall of this fool. Fuffuffu, at least he's entertaining."_

"Oh? Well then, I'm pretty sure that a legendary hitman such as yourself wouldn't having two jobs at the same time, now would you?"

Just as 'Blackbird' was about to exit the room, he stopped and hummed in thought before turning back around slightly to face the large 10-foot-tall giant in front of him.

"I'm listening."

"Fuffuffu. Knowing that Portgas D. Ace is the deceased owner of the _Mera-Mera no mi_ , 'Strawhat' Luffy will be on his way here to retrieve it from my possession. In addition to safekeeping the _Mera-Mera no mi_ , you are to also get rid of 'Strawhat' Luffy if he tries to come here and take it."

'Blackbird' silently sucked on his teeth at this new predicament and looked at the larger man with narrowed, suspicious eyes.

"How much are you willing to pay me?"

"Fuffuffu, 'Strawhat''s bounty of course. 400,000,000 beris in total."

'Blackbird''s eyebrows raised to show his amazement, but that was the only indicator for it. A long whistle escaped his mouth before nodding.

"400,000,000? Alright, I'll do. However, I got rules and conditions that I … _request_ that you abide by."

Doflamingo's smiled widened in amusement and satisfaction before he chuckled and nodded.

"Alright then. Name 'em."

"First: I want free lodging and food during my stay in Dressrosa. Everything else, I'll buy myself. Second: Do _not_ wake me up at ungodly hours in the morning. I _will_ shoot first and ask questions later. Last, but definitely not least, number three: Do _not_ , by any means necessary, send a female messenger to my door. I have nothing against them as a whole, but past trauma prevents me from getting along with them. Did any of that not compute with any of you?"

The seriousness in his eyes made every one of them shook their heads thus answering the mercenary. Even Dellinger had to because he was second thinking what he thought of the man earlier. Jora was just about to swoon over how artistically appealing and magnificent the male looked all cold and serious the way that he was. Which would only receive a look of disgust and confusion from the dark bluenette male if she did.

Doflamingo spread out his arms as if presenting with a grand project of his that would win over the hearts of all those who had come to see it. In a way, he was doing just that as he presented Dressrosa to the newcomer.

"Welcome to Dressrosa, the land of passion, 'Blackbird'."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okey dokey, after posting this, I'm heading straight for bed since it's like 4:33 A.M. over here where I'm at and I'm exhausted. So, before any of you continue to read the chapter, I want to clarify a few things ahead of time.**

 **#1: I will _NOT_ be changing Luffy's devil fruit to something like Anaka's, my OC from _The Silver Surgeon,_ mainly because it's far into the Dressrosa arc and to start from the very beginning with a new devil fruit is tedious and unnecessary. However, I am modifying the _Gomu-Gomu no mi_ 's properties a tiny bit to help with the fact that Luffy is the _uke_ , or bottom if you want to English-specific, of the pair. It's explained in this chapter. So, make sure to read carefully or there's a chance you'll miss it. **

**If I'm going a bit too quickly as far as the story line goes or if there's any ideas rolling in your head, then please write them out in the review box down below.**

 **#2: While I may or may not have said this already, I don't know 'cause I'm too tired to think about it right now, Merlen, or 'Blackbird' for the moment, will _NOT_ be a devil fruit user in this story. His powers revolve around his personal firearms and his skills in both Observation and Armament Haki. Nothing more, nothing less. Although, he isn't physically weak like Nami and Usopp are, that will be explained later on in the story though. **

**#3: 'Blackbird' is an _ALIAS_ , not his official epithet, I already have one picked out for him, that too will be revealed and explained later in the story. **

**Okay, I think I'm done for now. Oh! One more thing before I'm actually done: thank you sarahgri99 for being the first to review for this story and I hope that this chapter to your liking as well as everybody else. Hehe. Okay, I'm completely done now.**

 **Without further ado, I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter of _Blackbird_! :D**

* * *

 ** _Chapter I_**

It has been a few months since 'Blackbird' has been called into this job by the Donquixote Pirates. It has been quite uneventful to say the least. All he has done was lounge around the hotel penthouse suite he was given as residence in Dressrosa, train consistently, bake quite a lot of pastries and gave them to the poor, impoverished, and the toys as well. The rounds he does when gets up in the late morning and nighttime hours was mostly for the giant flamingo asshole's benefit rather than his own.

A long heavy sigh escaped his mouth as he sucked on a blue raspberry lollipop that he brought from the local candy store. He kept a black cloak on him while keeping the hood over his face to keep his identity hidden from the locals. It doesn't help that his older sister is a well-known 'criminal' and also that if he slipped up that he would be executed by the World Government just like she would be.

He was only four when she had received her first bounty of 79,000,000 beris at only eight-years-old. He didn't understand it at the time because he was so young. Also, being raised by his father who did everything in his power to keep everything about his sister and mother from him didn't help matters either. Not when the man would get stony and overly emotional at the same time every time they were mentioned. It was a wonder that he turned out to be sane for the most part. 'Most part' being the key words there. His stepmother didn't take kindly to having a stepson who was related to a 'criminal' while also having a sister who was a 'criminal'. That, and the fact that she was _extremely_ religious and he was kicked out for preferring the company of men to women didn't help matters either.

A scoff escaped his mouth at the memory and nearly laughed out of insanity. _"That woman knew nothing of what those girls did to me and just why I preferred being around guys more. She would have never understood why."_ 'Blackbird' mentally shook his head to get rid of the memories just as a voice rang out throughout the streets.

"Hey guys! Look what I found!"

The voice was definitely male, but it sounded so childishly high pitched that 'Blackbird' couldn't help but turn his head to look where it came from. His blue eyes dilated slightly as they saw a small, slender, yet absolutely _adorable_ teenager ran towards a group of people with him. What was peculiar about this boy was that he was disguised with a fake beard covering his face and also the x-shaped scar on his … _visible chest?!_ A blush dusted his cheeks as he saw it and then trained his eyes to look at the younger male with scrutiny. _"He looks … familiar. Hmm, eh oh well. Maybe I'll see him again at the Colosseum since he looks interested in going. Especially since the prize is for the_ Mera-Mera no mi. _"_

"Heh."

That was the only sound that came out of his mouth before the young teenager, who was actually the disguised Strawhat Pirate Captain Monkey D. Luffy, looked towards the dark, tall and covered man who walking at a leisurely pace. Luffy, somehow, was getting _that_ weird feeling about the figure. Like whenever he saw a good-looking guy and wanted them to join his crew for some odd reason. Whenever they were still alive, Ace and Sabo would help him figure it out. Eventually when Ace and Luffy were older and the feelings got more intense, Ace had figured out and told him that these were feelings of attraction. This also led to the inevitable 'sex talk' when Luffy had hit puberty got his first wet dream. Much to the embarrassment of both of them, mostly Luffy as Ace constantly teased him about it, they had the 'talk'.

So, to see that this man, person, thing was causing such a reaction that seemed like a whole lot more intense than it was with the others, kind of made Luffy both anxious and a little … _scared._ Yes, the great fearless, impulsive, and stubborn Monkey D. Luffy was scared. Because this was a person he has never seen before, don't even know to begin with, and also it was making him feel very weird. Warmer, made his heart race faster, and well … had made him half hard down below. It was _embarrassing_! So, being the way that he was kept a blank childishly innocent expression effectively hiding what was actually going on inside.

"LUFFY! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!"

"Hmm?"

Luffy blinked owlishly and saw the aggravated look on Usopp's face as he fumed enough that steam was coming out.

"Oh, yea I was listening."

"Then what did I say?"

Luffy then started to pick his nose still looking at the wooly haired teen in front of him with that blankly innocent look on his face.

"That we need to see if we can get something done that mystery factory place."

"Thank God you were actually listening this time! Yea, Law said that you, Zoro, Sanji, and Franky need to tear that place down while he goes with you."

"Okay, but we're still going to that tournament place, right?"

"Ughhhh, yes Luffy we're still going."

" _Sugoi_!"

Law knew that something was up with the Strawhat boy. Something that somehow dimmed that usually bright wide smile of his. _"Hmm, this is interesting. It must have to do with that mysterious person that walked by."_ Law had a feeling that the person was very dangerous and would take the chance to kill them if he had recognized them. However, it seemed like his main focus was Luffy rather than all of them, and even that was concerning. Especially since the 19-year-old boy was one of the very few males out there who had _that_ ability. There were two reasons why he knew: the first was that he noticed the red stains on the rags that he was apparently using and washing every month, the second one was that he was the boy's doctor. When Law asked Luffy about any family history with the same condition, do you know what he told him?

"I asked gramps about it, and he told me that no, there's no one in our entire family who was like this. He had told me that I only boy parts when I was a baby."

This shocked Law to the very core, but it also caused him to be extremely curious too. Curious enough to keep the conversation going on the topic.

"Did you notice anything different growing up as a child?"

Luffy had gotten that very rarely visible look of thoughtfulness and reminiscence. The older man waited patiently for the other captain's response.

"It was after I ate the _Gomu-Gomu no mi._ Around a month afterwards that I noticed that I had actually gained some weight. About a pound or two, nothing that was concerning, but when you were a kid who never gained or lost any weight, it was a big deal. So, when I visited the village doctor, she told me that somehow when I ate it, that it was originally meant to be eaten by an adult not a kid, and that the excess rubber turned itself into …"

Luffy had to stop and screw his eyes tightly as he covered his eyes with his hand. This was causing not only emotional turmoil, but also mental confusion and stress inside his body. Law looked at the younger boy in veiled concern and frowned as he kept his mouth shut. He needed to know what was going on with the boy, and if being quiet while he tried to get it all straightened out, then that was what he was going to do. Said boy let out a deep, heavy sigh as he rubbed his face slowly.

Luffy gestured to his blood-stained rags and then his whole torso, plus abdomen, which helped Law get the picture a little more clearly than before.

"So, you have artificially-made female reproductive organs due to eating the fruit and also milk ducts too?"

The humorless, hollow chuckle that escaped his mouth tore Law's insides apart at their seams. No one, especially someone as innocent and strong-willed as Luffy, should ever sound so _broken_. A sigh escaped as he sat down beside the smaller male as he brought him closer to his chest and gently rubbed his back just like he did with his younger sister Lami when they were children and she would scrap her knees and elbows. The sniffles and trembles that racked Luffy's smaller body as his fisted the doctor's dark blue hoodie.

"It's kind of fucked up that a doctor had to tell a seven-year-old that even though he's a boy that he can to give birth to healthy kids like a girl can. And that the milk things would stay small and dried up until I was pregnant."

Law had to agree with the smaller male on that one. It was kind of fucked up.

"I didn't even tell Ace until I was _13_! What kind of little brother was I to keep it from him for so long?! It took me six years, six years to tell him, and you know what he told me?"

Law stayed quiet, but shook his head as he kept rubbing Luffy's back as the tears kept coming and staining his hoodie. However, the infamous 'Surgeon of Death' couldn't bring himself to care all that much at the moment.

"He told me, 'Well that's a surprise. You're still my _otouto_ no matter what you are on the i-inside.' He was always accepting of me and even helped me through the monthly bleedings. Such a great big brother."

"Mm, I can only imagine what had happened. My own sister didn't live long enough to start her cycle. She was sick for quite a long time. It inspired me to a doctor like my parents even more than I already was."

"You were still a great _onii-chan_ for wanting to do that for your sister."

"Mm, true."

Law looked at the interaction between interaction between Luffy and Longnose-ya and had to smirk in amusement at them before giving a review of the plan once again just in case some of them had forgotten about it.

'Blackbird' had made it to his penthouse suite and locked the door behind him as he placed his sweets on the table before taking off the cloak. This revealed that the tall man had a semi-thick low ponytail that reached his shoulder blades and that he was wearing his usual outfit whenever he was working: a midnight blue, pinstriped, collared long sleeve shirt with fur-cuffed hems with a silver tie tucked under the collar and had a silver clip with a royal blue metallic cross embedded in the metal, a navy blue vest-tailcoat that had a silver chain serving as a replacement for buttons and a zipper and the broke off in two separate chains looping around his waist as a blue sapphire linked them all together, his dark navy blue, almost black, pants were tucked into his knee-high black boots. Simple, but elaborate.

He tossed the cloak over the lounge chair and grabbed a cinnamon roll from the cart that the maids brought to his room before beginning to eat it. 'Blackbird'. What an interesting meaning to his actual birth name. He supposed that he truly was a black bird in his own right. Especially with his skills as a sniper and hitman. Never once missing his target and only went after the highest paying bounties that he could find in the Grand Line at the request of high-ranking officials in the criminal underworld and any who were of high ranking in society. He was done with killing low-grade miscreants and amateurs just because they were a nuisance. If he was going to deal with those kind of people, then they were sent straight to Marine headquarters on a Navy vessel on their way there. He didn't play when it came to his jobs and oftentimes broke the rules to suit his needs and morals while completely the missions. It was a win-win situation in his case even if it pissed off a lot of people in the meantime.

"Heh, serves them right."

Yes, he was arrogant. That he will admit, but it really shouldn't matter what had happened as long as the mission is completed and he gets paid properly for it. If anyone fucked him over with his paycheck, then they don't hear from him again other than having their safes emptied out completely and blown to smithereens. Simple as that. Though, that has only happened once and it never happened again after that, but there's a chance that it will.

A sigh escaped his mouth as he took a sip of his strong wine-like grape juice while leaning against the window frame as his eyes gazed at the people and toys down below. It was quite a sight. Women stabbing men because of infidelity, though it made him wonder as to what _men_ would do if they find out that the _women_ had been cheating instead. That was a mystery in of itself.

Once again, he had nothing against women. Though it may seem like it by the way he was phrasing his words. Past experiences with women being the ones _bullying him_ as a child for looking like he was now. There was also attempts of rape and sexual assault on top of that once he hit puberty and gained quite a bit of muscle and bulk on him. No one would believe him simply because of his somewhat demonic appearance and the fact that his mother and sister were hunted by the World Government. So, yea he was not a woman-loving gentleman like most would be. Didn't help that his stepmother was also such a bitch too.

He took the last sip of his juice and refilled it as his blue eyes scanned the streets below and those all over the island with his _Kenbunshoku Haki_. _"So, that small teenaged boy is by the SMILE factory. Eh, oh well. Not my problem that the giant-ass flamingo got involved with Kaido of all people in the first place. So, it's his own damn fault and he alone has to pay for it in the meantime."_

With that thought, 'Blackbird' kept an eye out on the teen as he went through the factory and tore it to pieces for the rest of the afternoon. It was quite amusingly interesting to keep in progress of.

"I think I'll keep the fact that a boy and three others had torn the factory a part the next time I see the flamingo giant. Hehahaha, this has just gotten much more interesting."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Alright, so a _LOT_ happens in this chapter that may or may not cause some spinning heads and questions to pop up. 'Blackbird' is first seen at the Colosseum, he find's out the 'Lucy' is actually Luffy, his skills in _haki_ is revealed throughout the whole chapter, he encounters Sabo while posing as the fake 'Lucy', Luffy gets a message from 'Blackbird', 'Blackbird' blows a hole in Doflamingo's Birdcage technique, Luffy gets exhausted from his fight with Doflamingo, and the crew finally meet 'Blackbird. Hehe. **

**Any questions, thoughts, and ideas, please put them in the review section down below.**

 **Now that's out of the way, hope you all enjoy reading this chapter of _Blackbird_! :D**

* * *

 ** _Chapter II_**

It was later the next day that 'Blackbird' had found himself in the Corrida Colosseum, fully armed, cloaked, covered, and in the shadows. He was on the lookout for any stragglers who got too overconfident and decides to steal the _Mera-Mera no mi_ , even though it was a fake _._ So, far there had been quite a few who tried, but they all ended up with head trauma and a couple of bullets in them before they did. It was rather _boring._ None of these morons gave him any fun and didn't even break a sweat. So, here he was propping his elbow on his knee as he leaned on his cheek on the palm of his right hand pouting like a child who didn't get what they wanted for Christmas. It was bad enough that he wanted to fall asleep on the job. Which he has never done before, and won't do if he wanted that 400,000,000 beri paycheck.

Honestly, 'Blackbird' was thinking of how this 'Strawhat' Luffy would look like. Rumor has it that the man had eaten the _Gomu-Gomu no mi_ and was very powerfully destructive with it. So, a tall muscular man with plenty of battle scars, wears a strawhat on his head, and was very intimidating. _"Yep, that sounds about right. Could be wrong though. Especially with the world the way it is at the moment."_ His thought process was interrupted when he felt a massive burst of _Haoshoku Haki_ from the center of the arena.

"What the hell?"

'Blackbird' got up from his perch and leaned over just enough for him to see a giant old man duking it out with …

"What the fuck is that adorable kid doing here?! Wait, is that … he's got _Haoshoku Haki_ too! How…?! That giant-ass flamingo bastard has got a lot of explaining to do once I get my hands on him! Damn him!"

The 6' 2" blue-haired male scowled as he used his _Kenbunshoku Haki_ to see just what the hell was going on and the more he focused on them a sort of x-ray like vision appeared in his line of sight. He used this technique to observe the inner workings of the flow of _Haki_ between the two of them. The widening of his eyes conveyed the pure shock and surprise as he looked at the smaller teen much more closely than he did the old man. _"There's a womb and … is that a birth canal?! Whoa, I was not expecting this. Hold on, it's not … oh I see. It's an artificial womb, but his brain supplies enough estrogen to keep it working like a normal womb because of it being there. Yeesh, he's an adorably sexy guy and I'll just leave it at that for now."_ With this newfound discovery, 'Blackbird' paid much closer attention to the smaller male and how he fights.

"So, strictly close combat and hand-to-hand, but it's based on improvising alone rather than planning ahead of time. Hmm, that's interesting. Wait a minute! Did he just … _stretch_?! So, that means that he's … oh dear God, I have to take out … damn that-!"

Seeing that the smaller man was indeed Monkey D. Luffy in disguise, 'Blackbird' made the drastic decision to not complete this job while giving Donquixote Doflamingo a basic 'fuck you and your twisted ideals, I'm out of here' in the process. There was just no way that he could ever hurt anything, and anyone, who was cute and adorable. There was just no way.

A scoff of disgust and anger escaped his mouth as he picked up his guns and strapped them to his waist as he walked out more towards the stands and hid underneath them just as the real _Mera-Mera no mi_ came into view. _"That cocky ass. Leaving the real fruit out in the open for just anyone to steal it just like that. How stupid of him."_ The hitman kept his eyes on the newly identified 'Strawhat' Luffy the entire time he fought against opponent after opponent. It wasn't until the very last fight that he noticed something different. He had somehow gotten taller, more muscular, and was wearing blue shirt instead of his floral one, and the scar that was on his chest was _pink._ And he had a long metal pipe in his hands on top of that.

"That's not Luffy. Something must have happened for him to have someone take his place."

He watched the fight much more closely and saw that instead of glimpses of straight black hair under the helmet, they were curly blonde hairs. This further confirmed his theory in this person not being Luffy and then reached for his guns. Seeing that the Luffy-impostor had defeated his opponent and was heading for the _Mera-Mera no mi_ , 'Blackbird' used _soru_ to appear in front of the impostor within seconds and pointed his left-handed gun rifle just inches from the fruit. The gun itself was able to fit in the palm of his hand easily and was 30 inches in length altogether. Silver metallic plating rimmed the butt and rectangular shaped barrel of the rifle. Royal blue crosses were embedded into the lighter blue of the actual gun itself and the barrel was two to three inches thick while being squared out verses the traditional curved shape.

Everything stopped: the voices of the crowd, the movement of the impostor's footsteps, even the wind itself stopped for a moment before letting out a very hesitant breeze that ruffled their clothes. However, what they didn't know was that 'Blackbird' had the safety activated and wasn't actually going to shoot him.

"Tell me, what makes you think that you're qualified to eat the _Mera-Mera no mi_?"

To say that blonde man was intimidated was a mild understatement, but held his ground in his resolve as he answered truthfully.

"That fruit was my brothers before his death. I hope by eating it would help me continue his legacy as the 'Fire Fist'."

'Blackbird' smirked in both amusement and interest as he nodded and lowered his gun sheathing it into place on his left hip.

"Then take it and continue what you set out to do, Chief-of-Staff."

Leaving a thoroughly shocked Sabo behind to regain his marbles, 'Blackbird' made his way towards where he felt the young captain's _Haki_ using _soru._ Luffy felt a breeze hit him in the face before he felt a breath caress his ears as a deep, cool, and matured baritone reached them.

"I know who you are Monkey D. Luffy. Complete your purpose here, and once you defeat the current king, you and your crew will find me on your pirate ship. Heh, I look forward to meeting you properly Luffy."

The voice sent shivers up and down his spine as he kept moving and his eyes were wide as a shocked and dazed expression entered them while the voice and presence went away. It was all so sudden and so exciting. Like an adventure just waiting to happen. Now with newfound resolve in finding out more about this mystery person, Luffy pressed on with more vigor than he started with and lead the crew towards the inevitable battle with Doflamingo.

'Blackbird', however, went back to his hotel room after delivering his message to that adorable pirate captain. He gathered everything that he brought with him when he was called in to protect that fruit. His extra sets of clothes, ammo, and toiletries were also packed into his bag. It would also be very amusing to see the looks on their faces once they realized that he had raided their cinnamon roll and grape juice inventory clean. A chuckle escaped his mouth as he ran through the streets at inhuman speeds before realizing that Doflamingo was just starting to raise the _Birdcage_ all around Dressrosa causing a frown to appear on 'Blackbird''s face as he brought the 40-inch-long cross-shaped rifle cannon off of his back by the thick handle it had on it like a briefcase would. He picked it up like it weighed nothing but a feather and positioned it onto it's back, held it in his hand like it was a pistol, and once he was close enough fired both twin barrels at the same time with bullets made of pure bright neon blue Armament Haki. Both 'bullets' hit the strings with enough force that it shattered a hole that was 18 x 18 feetall the way around. Using his chance before they regenerated, 'Blackbird' jumped to the nearest roof top and kept going until he was close enough to jump through it. He landed on the ground seconds later with black _Busoshoku Haki_ coated legs and ran towards the _Thousand Sunny._

His advances and skills in perfecting his _Haki_ impressed his teachers enough that they kept training him until he was able to create projectiles made of pure _Busoshoku Haki_ and use his _Kenbunshoku Haki_ the same way that doctors used x-rays and MRI scans. This is why he was so sought out and also why he never missed a single shot. It was really scary at how powerful his _Haki_ is even when he didn't even have _Haoshoku Haki_. However, he was damn proud that all of those years and intuition didn't go to waste either. 'Blackbird', while confident in his abilities, was a bit uncertain if his skill set is what Luffy needed on his crew. Especially since his older sister, Robin, had a similar skillset when she became a part of the crew.

It was quite amazing that he was willing to give up his life of hunting and collecting high-paying bounties and rewards to follow a young boy who was a pirate, had two Supernova's in his crew including himself, had a bounty of 400,000,000 beris, had his sister as a part of his crew, and also been known for his powerful affiliations with 'Fire Fist' Ace, his father Dragon, his grandfather Garp, and even had an affiliation with the Newkama Kingdom through Emporio Ivankov. So, yes, this boy was very dangerous, very powerful, and also very _cute._ And since he, albeit very reluctantly, admitted to having an obsession with cute and adorable things, Luffy seemed like the perfect captain for him to join up with.

'Blackbird' stretched his back out and then set himself on the lounge chair as he pulled out one of the bottles of strong wine-like grape juice. He watched as the Birdcage kept getting smaller and smaller demolishing buildings, homes, and the surrounding forests while also literally shredding them to pieces. It was not a pretty sight to see. The dark bluenette could only imagine what Luffy is doing in his fight with the giant-ass flamingo. Hopefully, the adorably sexy captain would win and be brought back safely by his crew members. A small smirk graced his lips as he relaxed in the comforting aura that _Sunny_ gave off and immediately accepted it.

"It seems that you're accepting me already, are you _Sunny_? Hehahaha, we'll just have to see how your crewmates will take it, now won't we?"

It took Luffy a good few hours before he completely defeated Doflamingo by landing a King Kong Gun 4th Gear punch to the bastard's face. He was laying down on his back panting hard as he had almost completely exhausted his _Haki_ reserves and he was smiling quite widely at his victory over yet another tyrant.

He didn't hear what hte others was saying because he was exhausted and was very focused on getting to the _Sunny_ so he could see who the mystery man is.

"We need to get to the _Sunny._ A new _nakama_ is on their way there already."

While they had confused and very curious expressions on their faces, the others helped Sanji and Law picked him up propping him onto their shoulders as he tried regaining the feeling in his limbs. It wasn't until the _Sunny_ was in sight that Luffy was walking without stumbling, but he was still fairly weak. It honestly didn't help that it was _that_ time once again. This was getting very irritating. It seemed like every single time he was getting into a big fight, this has to happen to fuck with him. It was annoying, and Luffy was very done with dealing with these female aspects of his life if it kept interfering with his fights the way they have been doing since he and the others have entered the Grand Line.

Once they had all gotten onto the grassy deck of the ship, did they hear that voice that Luffy had heard on his way to help Law fight Doflamingo.

"Ah, I see that Luffy won against the giant asshole … and exhausted his _Haki_ reserves. That's … nice."

Robin and Law whipped their heads to face the cloaked figure as he seemed to be eating some sort of pastry while sitting in a slouching manner on _her_ lounge chair. Which wouldn't have bothered her if it had been one of the others, but this was a stranger that she didn't know about. Therefore, he got a very nastily cold glare from the older and half-inch taller woman.

'Blackbird' paused in his chewing as he got sight of his sister's glare and simply swallowed the food in his mouth before setting it down beside him.

"You know, that attitude of yours won't get very far with me ma'am. I haven't touched anything other than this chair, my juice, and my cinnamon buns. No need to get hissy about it."

Robin had to blink owlishly quite a few times as she realized that he was talking to _her_ and not somebody else.

"HEY! Don't talk to Robin like that you shitty bastard! If I wasn't helping Luffy, I would kick your ass."

"How about you see your way out of an A-B conversion you pretentious prick?"

Sanji had to balk and sputter at the man's comeback as Zoro laughed his ass off in the background at the _ero-cook_ 's suspense.

"You really did come here mystery man."

They all turned to soft but still strong voice of the young captain as his semi-sleepy eyes looked at the cloaked figure with a look that none of them had ever seen before on his face: openness and a deep-seated brightness that was never there before in those childishly wide eyes of his.

"Heh, like I would break a promise to someone like you 'Strawhat' Luffy. Especially since you gave me enough ultimatum to quit in the middle of a job I was doing while you were fighting Don Chinjao. Which has never happened before in my long years as a hitman."

"Hitman? What do you mean by that?"

"I have a skill set similar to Ms. Nico Robin here: assassination skills and very quick to gather information in the unlikeliest of places. However, I'm also very adept at using both Observation and Armament Haki, use firearms and gun-blades as my main weapons, I can also use iron body, shave _,_ moonwalk, and the tempest kicks of the Six Powers. Mostly physical stuff."

Luffy had to blink owlishly as the mystery man had said all of that and then stood on his own two feet batting away the hands that tried to help him. 'Blackbird' had to smirk out of amusement and intrigue at how cute the smaller male was acting with the others. Luffy then slowly but surely walked over to the taller male until he was about four feet away.

"A firearms expert? So, you're a sniper like Usopp is."

"That's right."

"Can I see them?"

The older male lifted his head up which caused his bright blue eyes to be seen clearly by Luffy and the others quite easily. However, since Luffy was the closet to him, he was able to see 'Blackbird''s entire face. Just looking at him caused a blush to appear on his face, his heart to race at impossible speeds, and his whole body to heat up drastically even as he stood firm in front of the older man. A smirk appeared on his face as he reached to his hips and unsheathed his 30-inch rifles and presented them to the young captain. Usopp and Franky couldn't help the widening of their eyes at the design and highly advanced technology that made up both rifles.

"Dude! Those are some super looking guns you got there! Do you know how technologically advance those things are?!"

"Very advanced. They cost me a fortune for them to be custom made so they help me utilize my Armament Haki."

"How much are we talking here?"

Those bright royal and sky blue eyes looked into the brown eyes of the orangette navigator's as he gave her a serious and concealed look of suspicion and wariness.

"750,000,000 beris maximum. 400 mil as the bare minimum."

"WHAAAAT?! That's impos-!"

"Stop screaming in my ear you tangerine-headed bitch. I worked as a hitman, a sniper-for-hire, a mercenary. I was _paid_ by high-standing _nobles_ , and minor royal families to do _their_ dirty work. So, they were more than able to pay me in cash, jewels, and precious metals."

Nami as well as the others couldn't help but gawk and look at the man with shock and awe as she then fainted on the deck causing poor Chopper to panic and start checking her over as 'Blackbird''s focus then went back to the intense gaze of Luffy's.

"You're _nakama_ now. So, take off the hood now … please."

An amused smirk and raised eyebrow was the only indicator of his intrigue and restraint to keep himself from laughing as he sheathed his guns and did as he was told by his new captain. Once again, widened eyes and owlish blinking conveyed their immense shock and disbelief at how handsome and attractive this man was. However, no body was as shocked as Robin was. She even had a hard time holding back her tears as she gazed upon the younger brother that she hadn't seen in 22 years.

"Merlen? Is that you?"

Blue eyes locked with those of the turquoise eyes of his older sister as he gave her a softer smirk and nodded. She gave him a relieved and joyful expression as the extra heaviness on her heart was lifted almost instantly. However, no one paid attention to how red in the face Luffy had gotten once he saw the full extent of the older male's face.

"Yep, the name's Nico Merlen. I'm Robin's younger brother."

By the time that had processed in their brains, they all said one thing.

"WHAAAAT!?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey everyone! I can't believe that this story has gained 194 views in only _TWO DAYS_! That is just amazing in of itself. So thank you all for reading this story for me. I really appreciate and happy that you did :D.**

 **Alright, now there is quite a lot going on in this chapter. The unintentional main focus of this chapter is how Merlen (Blackbird) and Luffy interact with each other throughout the chapter. There are some other elements going here, but none that are major in terms of being explicitly written out. Also, I want to forewarn you that Luffy has angsty moments in this chapter. Merlen also helps him out by bringing him out of it by asking serious yet very rhetorical questions.**

 **Hmm, oh and Merlen get's his official job/position on the crew as well that pertains to the original base design of me using 'Royal Guard' Ciel from _Elsword._ It's all in the name folks. Hehe. Also, one last thing before I stop: the cover photo that I posted to this story last night is of Merlen and how he looks like by the descriptions I keep throwing out there in the story. Once I start coloring him, I'll post it as the new cover picture.**

 **Now that's out of the way, hope you all enjoy reading this next chapter of _Blackbird_! :D**

* * *

 ** _Chapter III_**

"HEHAHAHA! HEHAHAHAHA! You crack me up! You should see the looks on your faces! HEHAHAHAHA!"

'Blackbird', who was now identified as Nico Merlen, kept laughing his ass off while clutching his sides as he rolled on the ground relishing in the reactions that he got from the other Strawhat Pirates. Luffy was chuckling in his own unique ways as he watched Merlen laughed as hard as he did before he calmed himself down by taking deep breaths.

"Hehe, okay I think I'm good now. Hehaha, but yea, I'm Nico Merlen, 26-years-old, sniper extraordinaire, and Robin's long-lost younger brother."

"You're 26?! Whoa, you're old!"

"OI! I am not that old you … you … d'aoww! How old are you supposed to be?! 16?!"

"OI! I'm 19 asshole!"

"You're not supposed to be this cute at 19!"

"CUTE?! I'm not cute! So, don't call me that!"

"Oh, yea? Then why the hell are you so red in the face?"

"B-because you're such an ass! It's making my blood rate go up!"

"… Don't you mean your heartrate?"

"Oh, yea that! Shishishishi."  
For anyone who has known Luffy for as long as they have, the Strawhats have _never_ seen their captain react this way ever. It made both Robin and Law very curious though as to how their relationship would grow and develop.

"I just remembered something. Merlen, do you have a devil fruit?"

"Hmm?"

Said bluenette looked towards his older sister in confusion and curiosity before her words were processed completely.

"Oh! Eh, nope. No devil fruit for me. I prefer my luxury of swimming in the water too much. Just my guns and _haki_."

A confident smirk appeared on his face just before a look of surprise and disbelief appeared on his face as Luffy had somehow sneaked behind him and was about to take off his cloak.

"AHHH! What the hell Luffy?! Stop that! AND STOP TOUCHING ME!"

"But your cloak takes away from your coolness! It has to go away!"

"That doesn't give you permission to just start touching other people like that!"

"But Meerrrlennnn!"

The blush that appeared on the older man and widened eyes that followed shortly afterwards as he saw the kicked puppy look on Luffy's face. He started getting flustered as the pout came out to play and he started flailing his arms about as he _tried_ to lean away if it weren't for the rubberman's arms wrapping themselves around his waist.

"Put that away you overly cute monkey! It's not going to work!"

Okay, he had to admit that the last part was a big, fat lie as comical anime tears started coming out of eyes shortly thereafter.

"Please Merlen? Pleeeeeeease?"

"Alright, alright! You damn sneaky-ass monkey using my weakness against like that. You're just plain evil!"

More grumbles escaped his mouth as the blush and embarrassed scowl persisted on his face as he undid the strings on his cloak and slung it over the back of the chair carelessly. The comical widening and intense blush that appeared on Luffy's face was not lost on the rest of the crew. Especially since the color was much more intense than the red skin of his 2nd Gear. Indeed, the physique of the older male was very attractive and ideal for most slender yet lean masculine builds. Even Sanji and Law was a bit jealous at the bluenette male. Luffy sat up straight and brought his face a few inches away from Merlen's scowling face as he had his arms crossed over his chest. Merlin opened his left eye and raised his right eyebrow at how close Luffy was to his face.

"I get that I'm sexy and beautiful, but that's a little too much Luffy."

"Hmm? You say something?"

Luffy blinked owlishly at the 26-year-old and tilted his head conveying his curiosity and confusion. Merlen sighed and looked at the younger both unamused yet with very hidden lust.

"Your _face_ is too close to mine."

"Oh. Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"Mm, don't know yet. Just don't lean in too much unless you plan on kissing me. Hehaha."

That was enough to get Luffy to back off almost immediately as he stared at Merlen as if he had just discovered something that no one had seen before.

And that is where the others walked off pretty damn quickly to their own respective places not able to take the tension between the two men any more than necessary. Even Robin and Law couldn't handle it all that much and they were the calmest out of the whole bunch besides maybe Sanji and Zoro, but even that was a stretch in of itself.

Merlen had noticed them leaving, but he paid them no mind as he kept looking at Luffy with an appreciative look. Luffy, however, didn't know how to respond to what just came out of the older male's mouth. Sure, he's had something similar happen to him from Boa Hancock, who he wanted to stay as far away as he could from her, and a few others over the years, but, uh, none of them were outwardly blunt and shameless about it either. So, imagine the immense shock and epic mind-explosion that just happened inside when he heard _that_ come out of that … _"No! BAD LUFFY! Don't go down that road again! It was bad enough when it happened the first time around!"_ Merlen must have noticed the immense confusion and conflict inside of his eyes because he gave a soft, but small, smile towards the boy that made his heart race even more than it already was.

"That is, if you really want to than I have problems with it. Just don't push yourself. It's bad for you. Heh."

That made Luffy relax with relief and gave Merlen a big megawatt smile as chuckled and moved closer to Merlen hugging his waist in the process.

"Okay! Merlen is so cool!"

"HEHAHAHA! Now, I wouldn't say that, but yea I guess I am kind of cool."

"Not 'kind of'! Really cool! Like really awesome cool! Shishishishi."

"Heh, whatever you say Luffy."

"… I wanna a hug too."

The slight squeeze he got from Luffy's hold on him gave him enough permission to bring his arm around the younger, and smaller, male and gently brought him closer in a hug. Zoro and Sanji, being very protective over Luffy as well as having spent the most time with him besides Law who was Luffy's personal doctor if Chopper wasn't available, were looking out the windows of their respective places on the ship keeping a very close eye out on the two of them. Seeing that Luffy was the one who hugged Merlen first and not the other way around kind of made them relax knowing that Luffy was an extremely instinctive person when it came to people. Well, more in-tuned to men than he was with women. He was a complete dunce sometimes when it came to them. They guessed it was because Luffy was raised by his two older brothers and grandfather more often than not than he was raised by a stable mother figure. It was a wonder that he came out as well as he did considering.

Luffy, however, had that pensive look on his face as he gazed out to the sea in curiosity. Knowing of what little he knew of pirate crew hierarchy, he was trying to see where Merlen would fall into the crew in what he was told about his skill set.

"Hey Merlen?"

"Hmm, what is it Luffy?"

"What else can you do besides being a sniper and _haki_ expert?"

"Well, I was a part of the criminal underworld at one point of my life. Even was a mafia boss too, but I gave it up knowing that I wasn't much of a leader. However, I somehow managed to keep what connections I had when I was there. That includes unlimited access to the black market."

"Wow! That's so cool! What can you get at a black market?"

"That depends on what you're wanting and/or looking for. I mainly used it for getting my ammo and guns all those years ago. However, I can also use it to buy and free slaves, sell and buy information about famous pirates like the _Yonko_ or the other Supernovas. There's also the weapons department too."

"That's a lot of stuff. What else can you do?"

"Heh, curiosity getting a hold of the monkey, eh Luffy?"  
"Shishishi, yep. Come on, tell me!"

"Alright, just calm down first. Hehaha."

Merlen waited for a few minutes as Luffy kept looking at him in excitement and curiosity reminding the older dark bluenette of a kitten rather than a monkey.

"Heh, alright. Well, since I have trained my _haki_ to the point of weaponizing it, I can make bullets out of my _Busoshoku Haki_ and have x-ray vision when using my _Kenbunshoku Haki._ That was how I knew of you being there fighting in the arena."

Merlen purposely left out the fact that he had also seen just how much raw power that could potentially be in his _haki_ as well as the fact that he also knew that little secret. Luffy, however, was having a hard time keeping his panic and apprehension from showing on his face. Because if Merlen had somehow saw that he had an artificial womb and birth canal inside him, then it either would cause the man to keep his distance or just plain reject him as a whole. That was what Luffy was so terrified of. He _finally_ met a guy that he had felt absolutely no bad feelings of suspicion about and he didn't want Merlen to go away either. All because of him being part girl inside. He was lucky that Ace accepted him right off the bat along with Chopper and Law, but all of them knew what it was like to be considered a freak of nature and knew what exactly he was going through. None of the others, except for maybe Robin, but he wasn't so sure about that, knew absolutely nothing about his super-secret, all-time insecurity and fear. He was absolutely determined to keep it that way unless they had somehow found out about it and asked him about it.

"Really?! Awesome! Shishishishi."

Merlen somehow felt the unease and pain behind that large megawatt smile of the smaller male's face. The fact that he was even doing this must mean that it greatly affected him on a much deeper level than most would think about. Merlen knew exactly how that felt. Especially when those girls _attempted_ at raping and sexually assaulting him when he had hit puberty. The worse about it was that these were women either a few years older than him or a decade older then him. There was also a couple of _OKAMA_ that did it too, but they quickly got their asses kicked; whereas, since he was 'raised' to have manners and to respect woman just because, he never laid a hand on them. Not even once. That was the messed-up part about it all. He had done nothing to them and yet they did what they did to him. It forever changed his view on women as a whole and he has yet to meet one who contradicted that in any way possible.

Because of this, Merlen sighed and then placed the smaller yet very confused male onto his lap and hugged him closer to his chest. Luffy sat completely still in his lap. Whether or not it was out of shock or fright, he absolutely had no idea.

"That goofy ass smile of yours won't work on me Luffy. Not when I can see the pain in your eyes and how scared you are. I haven't ran away, have I?"

The former-hitman rubbed his younger captain's back as shivers racked his body and the grip that Luffy had on him tightened as he shook his head as he got the hidden message behind the rhetorical question.

"N-no, you haven't. Yet."

"There is no 'yet' Luffy. Have I pushed you away?"

"N-no."

"Have I told you to fuck off?"

"No, you haven't."

"Have I, in any way, pushed you to do something you didn't want to do in the first place?"

"No."

"Alright then. There's your answer Luffy."

Shivers that ran through Luffy's smaller body as they turned into silent, but chocking sobs as he buried his face into Merlen's chest. Relief, complete and utter _relief_ , ran through him with a vengeance as he finally came up with a position for Merlen to take up on.

"Bodyguard."

The word was said so softly that the older man didn't quite catch it. He ran his fingers through the messy black strands that made up Luffy's hair as he looked at him in confusion.

"You did jobs that had work as a bodyguard right Merlen?"

"Mm, quite a few yea, that involved guarding nobles from assassination attempts. Why?"

Luffy wiped away his tears with the back of his hands before Merlen held out a napkin with an amused smirk and raised eyebrow. The young captain blushed a bit as he wiped his hands and face clean after taking the offered napkin.

"Because. Zoro is already the First Mate, and Usopp is already the gunner."

"Mhm, okay and?"

"Well, if you worked as a bodyguard before, that means that you'll be the future Pirate King's personal protector if the First Mate isn't able to do that."

Merlen blinked owlishly quite a few times as he tried to process all of that before catching onto what Luffy was trying to get out in the midst of him being temporarily distracted by his cuteness. This got a laugh out of him as joy and pure, unadulterated excitement and a sense of pride was instilled in him as he gave a wide smirk of his own.

"I would be honored to be the Pirate King's Royal Guard. So, when do I start?"

"Shishishishi, tomorrow morning as soon as we set sail!"

"Aye, aye Captain Luffy."

If only Merlen knew just how much trouble his boy was going to drag him into. The starting of this adventure would just begin once they reached the next island after Dressrosa: Zou Island, home of the Minks.


End file.
